“We Need More Support for the Deafblinds’ families”

Deafblindness is a unique disability, effecting both sight and hearing. In the UK there are around 400,000 of deafblind people, according to Deafblind UK. This figure could increase up to 570,000 by 2030 due to the ever increasing average life-span of the population. Jordi Albacete and Guillem Lisarde interviewed Frankie McLean Social Care Manager of Deaf Action, a charity that has been offering services for 180 years for the deaf and the deafblind communities.

Advances in the integration of deafblind people into society has been enormous in the last years, however there is still so much to be done to meet the basic needs (1)of this collective. For example, Frankie McLean, social care (2) manager of Deaf Action, believes that emotional therapeutic counselling for the families at the diagnosis stage is still lacking. Similarly, McLean criticises that deafblind communities, which are in great need of support, often become an easy target when welfare budgets are cut.

Sign language and accessibility to public services for deaf and deafblind people have been two fields where recent legislation has made significant progress, since 2014. In April of that year, a legal framework was passed for sensorial impaired people, the See Hear Strategy,which is based on nine goals that pursue the counselling (3)for people with any sensorial impairment. Months later in the Scottish Parliament the British Sign Language Bill was passed, in order to make public services accessible in sign language.

The new law is seen as a step forward by different entities such as Sense Scotland because it “gives responsibilities to public organisations to develop action plans for the communication of deaf and deafblind people”, according to Irene Suttie, Quality Assurance Manager from this organisation.This organisation is currently working in a project from the government that aims to raise awareness for local enterprises about the communication challenges faced by the deafblind people. They also offer them support and trainingto make their businesses more accesible. Frankie McLean thinks that both measures are in the right direction and they will help to promote independence,empower deafblind people and creating new opportunities for them.

The specific needs and the level of isolation of these collectives are many times difficult to understand for those who do not suffer from them according to Frankie McLean “deafblind people are isolated from the world and still there is a long way to go”. Organisations such as Deaf Action, Sense Scotland or Deafblind Scotland, work to make the needs of the deafblind visible and guarantee that the needs of the deafblind are covered. This is a challenge that involves changes in legislation, regulation, social care strategies, and overall change of attitudes in the rest of society.

Comment: In the UK the use of counselling is widespread in advisory services.

Have worked in this article:

Author: Guillem Lisarde and Jordi Albacete (in Spanish).

Editors: Jordi Albacete, Amaia Garmendia, Jonattan Lozano.

Proof-reader: Poppy May Henderson.

Translation into English: Jordi Albacete.

Use of English for Spanish-speakers: Jordi Albacete.

Videos: Guillem Lisarde (filming and edition).

Autor: Jordi Albacete

I am an environmental journalist. My passion for the protection of human and environmental rights has been inspired by research led journalism. My ambition is to communicate and inspire people to make positive changes in the environment. Twitter @albacetejordi or Linkedin.